In a brilliant historical novel set during the siege of Nashville in December 1864, Madison Jones tells of the adventures of twelve-year-old Steven Moore and his slave companion, Dink. In search of Steven's father, a heroic Confederate captain in General Hood's ragtag army, they slip behind enemy lines. When the two boys stumble across a Rebel group waiting in ambush, it is the beginning of what Steven will remember as "my long nightmare." Jones's lucid prose guides the reader through the disorienting fog of battle and memory, following Steven and Dink toward the shocking climax that forces them into the recognition of their separate identities and the brutal consequences of war. For its sheer storytelling power and the truths it reveals of the Civil War, Nashville 1864 is sure to join the handful of indispensable books on our nation's history and character.

* Winner of the 1997 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction